Further to a brutal attack by settlers on 7 December in Al Mughayyer, north of Ramallah, the International Solidarity Movement has sent details of more violence.

Continuing violence from settlers and army

For the fourth consecutive day of Israeli assaults, a gang of armed Israeli settlers raided the Abu Hamam family home on 10 December. Later at night, the Israeli army abducted a US and an Australian citizen.

At around 6:45pm, settlers attacked those present on location, Palestinians and solidarity activists alike, trying to intimidate them. Settlers cocked a rifle in the activists’ face. The Abu Hamam home stands in the al-Khalayel area of al-Mughayyer on the outskirts of the village.

Soon after the attack began, Israeli soldiers joined the settlers and shot live ammunition at residents of al-Mughayyer trying to come to the family’s aid.

A pregnant woman and the children living at the Abu Hamam residence were eventually evacuated to safety. The settlers only left towards the Havat Shlisha outpost around 9:30pm, with the soldiers following about half an hour later. For the entire time soldiers were there, they kept pointing laser scopes at family members and international activists. They also occasionally shot live fire in the air, and a military drone constantly hovered overhead.

Police harassment

At around 11:00pm, five military jeeps carrying over 20 soldiers and border police officers stormed the compound again. They declared the entire al-Khalayel area a closed military zone for 24 hours.

Closed military zone orders usually have an exemption for residents, who can remain in the area. However, this order didn’t, raising concerns over the intent of Israeli authorities and a possible threat of forced displacement.

In a prime example of cooperation between Israeli authorities and settlers, the closed area didn’t include the Havat Shlisha outpost, from which the assailants set out. As is the norm, Palestinians were punished for being victims of Israeli violence.

During the raid, border police officers detained two internationals, US and Australian citizens. They warned the rest they would come back in an hour and arrest anyone who remained there.

Officers took the two detainees to the Shaar Binyamin police station for questioning. But they then sent them away without any questioning and told them to return in the morning.

Other attacks

In a similar development, the Israeli police announced last night that they’d finished investigating the assault by settlers in Ein al-Duyuk on 30 November. They closed the case on the grounds that “no evidence was found that a crime was committed”. Even though the incident sent one Canadian and three Italian activists to hospital.

Masked settlers allegedly stole passports, phones and other equipment. But police didn’t even bother to interview the victims of the attack who filed the complaint.

Earlier on 10 December, a settler ran over a German citizen with an ATV, causing him minor injury. He was one of two solidarity activists making their way from the village to the Abu Hamam home.

A similar incident took place on 7 December, only hours before the brutal attack in which eight Israeli settlers raided the Abu Hamam residence, resulting in the injury of 13-year-old boy Riziq. That time, settlers chased and hit two activists with their car, causing them extensive bruising.

The family of Abu and Umm Hamam is the only one currently standing between the settlers and achieving unbroken territory between al-Mughayyer and Ein Samia. Displacing them would allow the settlers to create a line of settlements and settlement outposts all the way to the South Nablus area, and going down from there all the way to the Jordan Valley.

Featured image via International Solidarity Movement

By The Canary

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